"Martínez had been scheduled to go
on trial for Jorge Steven López Mercado’s death on Monday, May 17,
confessed to the crime during a hearing in Caguas on Wednesday, May 12. Martínez
told the court he understood the consequences of his actions, and Judge
Miriam Camila Jusino immediately sentenced him to 99 years in prison.Primera Hora reported López’s parents,
Myriam Mercado and Jorge López, hugged prosecutor Yaritza Carrasquillo
after the hearing. Mercado told the newspaper, however, Martínez’s
confession was bittersweet for her and her family. 'We are able
to find a bit of peace in this aspect, but it still not going to return
Steven,' she said. 'But at least there is justice in Puerto Rico.'"

Martínez has confessed
to killing López in what is described as "gay
panic". Police say Martínez confessed to stabbing, decapitating,
dismembering and partially burning the teen’s body before dumping it
roadside near Cayey.

On Thanksgiving Eve,
thousands marched through San Juan to hold a candlelight vigil for
the
slain teen. The crowd demanded authorities investigate the case as an
anti-gay hate crime. Similar vigils were held in New
York and Chicago.

Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Lesbian & Gay
Task Force, who was in Caguas when Martínez
plead guilty , tells
EDGE it brings some closure. "But those wounds will never heal. And
we just have to work to
ensure this does not happen again."

To date, Puerto
Rico's Republican Gov. Luis Fortuño, who resisted
efforts to prosecute the case a hate crime, has yet to publicly
comment on the López case. On the other hand, the conservative anti-gay governor has called for a constitutional marriage ban
against same-sex marriage. Priorities, priorities.